strawberry + chocolate swirl no-knead brioche

Need a weekend baking project? Brioche bread is tender, buttery and subtly sweet. It’s the perfect bake for a long day and the best part, it’s a low maintenance bread that doesn’t require kneading.

I had this delightful homemade strawberry and rose jam left over from my Cardamon + Honey Linzer Cookies last week. After some research on bakes that involve jam, I landed on this brioche recipe. Since I did not have enough jam to fill both rolls, I filled one with jam and the other with dark chocolate and twisted them together. Who can resist chocolate and strawberries?

I use King Arthur bread flour for any bread I bake and love their recipes too. This one is inspired by them. I’m also a sucker for no-knead breads because that means hands-off time can be used for relaxing. Win-win.

filling

egg wash

1 egg beaten

directions

In a microwavable container, warm the milk and water until luke warm, like bathwater. Stir in yeast and 1 tsp. sugar. Let foam for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the egg and butter, whisk to combine. Pour the yeasted liquid and mix to combine. If you have a stand mixer, beat at medium speed with the beater blade for 1 minute. If you don’t have a mixer, just stir until combined — the dough will be wet and sticky.

Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk. *Tip: I suggest warming the oven to 100 degrees and then turing it off. Then place the dough in a metal bowl with a damp cloth on top in the warmed oven*

To assemble: When the dough has risen, use a dough scraper to pull the dough from the edges of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and form each in a rectangle. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 375°F.

Flour a clean work surface and line a 9” x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough balls to the work surface and gently stretch them into an 8” x 11” rectangle.

Spread jam over one rectangle and melted chocolate over the other. Starting from the long end of the rectangle, roll the dough tightly into a coil. Repeat with the second. Line them up parallel and twist them around each other to create a spiral. Transfer the spiral to the prepared pan. Brush the top with egg wash; don’t cover the pan.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot for 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake the bread for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove it from the oven and turn it out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for 20 minutes before slicing.